Jerry Jackson: A rolling train wreck

Friday

Jul 12, 2013 at 9:35 AM

Recent polls indicate American disapproval of Obamacare grows each month and at 69 percent is higher than anytime since passage in 2009.

Jerry Jackson

For those of us who warned about the dangers and complications of Obamacare, we owe an apology. Two or three years later it is apparent most of us underrated the problems. Perhaps it can best be described by heeding Democrat Senator Max Baucus’s memorable phrase “Obamacare has become a rolling train wreck”.

The latest episode was revealed on July 2nd when the Obama administration ordered a one year delay on the mandate that companies with 50 or more “employee equivalents” (whatever that means) must provide government approved health insurance.

Even the devoted followers in the media are expressing concern over the biggest boondoggle in American financial history. Here is how the Associated Press puts it on July 4th, “The sudden delay of a major part of President Obama’s historic health care overhaul is raising questions about other potential problems lurking in the homestretch”. When you have that type of comment from loyal supporters, you know you are in serious trouble. Recent polls indicate American disapproval of Obamacare grows each month and at 69 percent is higher than anytime since passage in 2009.

It seems one of the roadblocks in working with companies with 50 or more employees is the administration’s failure to recognize the hundreds of thousands of companies that file as partnerships or “S” corporations. With virtually no one in this administration with private industry experience it is apparent these government lackeys had no better knowledge of what is an “S” corporation than The Sun Times liberal columnist who complained that “S” corporations weren’t paying income tax. If you are going to write a law with gigantic negative effect, you need to at least know how to spell “BUSINESS.”

And how about the creation of another monstrous problem by deferring the company’s requirement until January 1, 2015. They did not defer the mandate for individuals. Thus individuals are only supposed to be eligible for Obamacare’s subsidies if their employer doesn’t offer the right benefits, but how will the treasury know who qualifies in 2014 if they lack the information that the companies now won’t be required to submit until 2015?

These incompetent darlings who are trying to regulate this mess will find themselves completely overmatched. Do you think private industry will just stand by and let the government run roughshod over them? I think not. An example: Obamacare administrators think they are ahead of the game by stating an individual must be covered if he or she works 30 hours a week or more. Some companies will hire many more part time workers thus forcing individuals to have more than one job.

Other companies will operate with a little more imagination. Let’s say McDonalds and Taco Bell are located within a block or so. These two businesses could work out a sharing agreement where workers in the same week work 20 hours in each of the two eateries

More imaginative might be an arrangement where the two eateries had the same 20 hour arrangement but instead of the workers rotating back and forth, the companies just borrow workers for 20 hours and the worker stays in one location. Private industry will be forced to be creative.

Meanwhile with most everyone being distracted by these ridiculous complexities the projected cost of Obamacare is going through the roof. For individuals and for many companies conservative estimates indicate health insurance premiums in one year will increase between 50 and 80 percent.

One big reason for this probable increase is that people with serious or chronic illnesses will jump into the exchanges or other instruments of coverage. The other young and healthy individuals will elect to pay a small penalty and take coverage only when and if they have a serious health problem. This is such a basic tenet of human behavior a 5th grader could predict it. Perhaps they could amend the law so the penalty for not buying health insurance would be a 10 year stay in the pokey.

I’ve heard a number of progressives explain the way penalties will be enforced. They tell us it will all be coordinated and the IRS will simply deduct this penalty from the taxpayer’s refund. Do you really think taxpayers will not catch on and simply change their withholding so there will be no refund?

You might think this delay on requirements for companies would temper some enthusiasm by Obamaites. A top ranked official sees the delay as nothing but a win - win situation for all parties. He reasons that it gives business and government regulators more time to work out the kinks and believes the one year delay will be helpful for the Democrat congressmen who are battling for re-election in 2014 – like our own

Mark Pryor.

Wow! What a desperate search for a consolation prize. Does he really believe a one year extension in a program that by his own definition is bad will take the pressure off the Democrats who supported Obamacare?